Demick Starling Redshirting, Not Expected to Play for Virginia Next Year

UVA head coach Tony Elliott reported that Starling is redshirting the remainder of the season and is not expected to play for Virginia next year

A surprising development from Virginia head coach Tony Elliott's weekly press conference on Tuesday was that senior wide receiver Demick Starling will be redshirting the rest of the season and is not expected to return to the team next year. According to Elliott, the decision to have Starling redshirt was "mutual" and all efforts are being made to ensure that Starling completes his degree at the University of Virginia before exploring his options for his future athletic career. 

"We've gone back and forth a little bit throughout the course of our time, but we've mutually agreed that he wants to take advantage of the redshirt year and we're gonna support him academically," Elliott said of Starling on Tuesday. "See - can we help him graduate from the University of Virginia and then he can figure out from there what his future looks like with football."

When asked about the possibility of Starling entering the transfer portal at the end of the season, Elliott said that Starling's academic future was his priority and that Starling's next steps for his football career will be figured out at the end of the season. 

"With the four games guys can redshirt and you got opportunities to move on after the year, and so with him it's just a function of he's looking at big picture, and he feels like he can possibly have a better opportunity somewhere else," added Elliott. "The biggest thing for me is to make sure that he finishes and graduates; gets his degree from from UVA and that's that's my focus right now. And we'll figure out long term at the end of the season, what's best for him."

Starling, who recorded 11 receptions for 188 yards in his first three seasons at UVA, was expected to play a significant role in Virginia's receiving corps this season. He started Virginia's first two games of the year, but did not have a single catch and then did not play in last week's loss at Maryland. Starling is also an accomplished sprinter who competed for UVA's track & field team last spring. 

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